Browns dispute John Moffitt's claim about voided trade

When former Seahawks guard John Moffitt joined 710 ESPN Seattle's "Bob and Groz" in studio earlier this week to talk about this decision to walk away from football, he sounded off on what he characterized as a dishonest tactic by the Browns.

John Moffitt

Back in August, the Browns cited a failed physical as the reason they voided a trade that would have sent Moffitt from Seattle to Cleveland, but Moffitt said Tuesday that was due to his refusal to take a paycut and not because of any legitimate medical concerns.

The Browns have denied that claim via an email to ProFootballTalk.com.

"The only reason John Moffitt is not a Brown is because of our concerns about his health," the Browns told the website. "Any claims to the contrary are not true."

Here's the backstory: The deal was contingent upon Moffitt passing a physical. He told 710 ESPN Seattle that he underwent an MRI and was told by the doctor that nothing was wrong with his knee, which had been surgically repaired after an injury he sustained as a rookie in 2011.

"I saw the MRIs with the doctor," he said. "I went through all the slides with the doctor."

Moffitt said the team then asked him to take a paycut, which he refused to do.

"And then my agent finally did some work and figured out that per the CBA you can't do that on a trade," he said. "So now they just call me up to [their] office and say, 'We're going to fail you on your physical.' I went in with the GM, talked to him, and they tried to get the head trainer to tell me that my knee wasn't right and they ... were basically trying to lie to me. I was like, 'That's great. Thanks. You guys really set me up here because you failed me on a physical [and] the whole league's going to know.' "